Chapter 172: Two Hus vying

When talking about the Geluo people, a trace of hatred flashed in Guduzhi's eyes. He tried his best to calm down his inner anger and said slowly: "My father died at the hands of the Geluo dog thief."

Li Qingan was stunned and apologized: "Sorry, I don't know."

"This has nothing to do with the general, we are not as strong as others."

Gu Duzhi sighed and said, "In the 29th year of Kaiyuan, there was a blizzard in Beiting. My father led his tribe to the west of Jinshan, which was less affected by the blizzard. The west of Jinshan was originally undecided and was occupied by the Gelulu people. My father took his people to the Geluo den to negotiate and asked them to allow us to stay for a winter, but was rejected. Not only that, my father was besieged by the Geluo people on his way back and was seriously injured. Then the Geluo people dispatched 10,000 people to drive them away, killing hundreds of us, stealing countless women, children and most of the cattle and sheep. We were forced to leave Jinshan West. My father died three months later. In that winter, countless cattle and sheep were frozen to death and starved to death, and the Shatu people were seriously injured."

"Did you ever think about revenge?"

"Why don't you think about it? It's just that Shatuo has a sparse population and is not strong enough!"

Gu Duzhi sighed and looked very depressed. Li Qingan glanced at him and said slowly: "If I asked Shatuo to go to Jinshanxi to fight a war with the Geluo people, of course, the scale will not be too large, but it cannot be too small. For example, there is a conflict over the ranch, can you cooperate with me?"

Gu Duzhi stared at Li Qing'an blankly and said for a long time: "What is the meaning of the envoy?"

"You don't have to worry about what I mean. In short, I need a conflict between the Shatu people and the Gloru people."

Li Qingan patted his shoulder and smiled, "If you cooperate well, I will give you the ranch west of Jinshan to you Shatuo people in the future."

Gu Duzhi's eyes slowly lit up, and he nodded slowly, "I understand, I am willing to serve the envoy."

Guduzhi went back that day and rested for a night. The next day, Li Qing'an's brigade continued to march eastward. Two days later, the team arrived at the Yiwu Army's barracks, and there were still ten miles away. Han Zhi, the governor of Yizhou and the envoy of Yiwu Army, and Yang Zaicheng, deputy envoy, came to welcome Li Qing'an.

Yizhou is one of the three states of Beiting. The grasslands are vast and there are large lakes like Pulehai. Therefore, agriculture is also developed accordingly. Yizhou leads Yiwu, Rouyuan and three counties, with the most Shatu people, there are also Qiang people, Tuqi Shiren and Uighur people. The Han people are far less than Tingzhou. They are mainly military households, and agriculture is mainly military farming.

"Han Zhi, a humble official, meets General Li!"

From afar, Han Zhi, the governor of Yizhou and the commander of Yiwu, bowed to Li Qing'an. Han Zhi was about 35 years old, tall and rough, with a pair of small eyes as sharp as a Buddha eagle. His father was a Tang army and his mother was from Shatuo. He grew up in Beiting since childhood. In the 28th year of Kaiyuan, he joined the army. Like Li Qing'an, he also started as a soldier in the fortress and became the governor of Yizhou today.

Although Han Zhi's appearance was rough, he was very good at changing his mind and flattering his skills. For example, Li Qing'an sent people to him at Yumen Pass to ask for support. Han Zhi immediately ran out and sent all three thousand Yiwu troops to support Li Qing'an, and rushed to help at night. If he hadn't been in urgent need, he would have personally brought the army to help. It was Yiwu's reinforcements that forced the Qiang and Hu to attack the city. His decisive operation left a very deep impression on Li Qing'an.

Li Qingan bowed his hand and replied with a smile: "Last time for Yumen Pass, thank you General Han."

"Where! Following orders is the responsibility of the humble position."

Some things cannot be explained too clearly. Li Qing'an has an order, and Han Zhi is good at following the order. But the problem is that at that time, Li Qing'an had not handled the transfer of military power, and there were no military talismans or arrows. What orders did Han Zhi listen to? Whose orders? The ambiguity here can be imagined. The meaning of his words was to imply that he obeyed Li Qing'an as the governor of Beiting. This was his statement and his position. Of course, the premise was that Li Qing'an could not infringe on his interests. He was the governor of Yizhou and the Yiwu army was under his rule. He could obey Li Qing'an's orders, but Li Qing'an could not interfere too much in the military affairs of the Yiwu army. In other words, it was to maintain the status quo.

Li Qingan understood what he meant. When he first arrived in Beiting, it was undoubtedly a stupid thing to make enemies on many sides. What he came to Yizhou was Han Zhi's obedience. As for other things, he had to make a long-term plan. He smiled slightly and said, "General Han's decisive behavior is admirable. I hope I will cooperate happily in the future."

When Han Zhi heard that Li Qing'an used the word "cooperation", he couldn't help but be overjoyed and laughed: "Okay! Li Envoy is worthy of being a hero, please speak quickly. Please follow me to the military camp and see the military appearance."

"Please, General Han!"

Everyone turned their horses and ran towards Yiwu's army camp. The two horses intersected. Li Qing'an nodded slightly to Deputy Envoy Yang Zaicheng to show his gratitude for his rush to Yumen Pass.

Yang Zaicheng also bowed his hand to return the gift, and everyone accelerated the horse and gradually walked away.

Jinshan, which is today's Altai Mountain. To the north of Jinshan is the territory of the Uighurs, to the west is the control area of ​​the Gelulu people, and to the southeast is the pastoral area of ​​the Shatu people. Whether the Uighurs, Gelulu people or Uighurs, they are all branches of the Turks. After the demise of the Turks, the Uighurs gradually became stronger and replaced the Turks' status in the northern desert. They surrendered to the powerful Tang Dynasty. In the fifth year of Tianbao, the leader of the Uighurs Guli Peilu was named Huairen Khan by the Tang Dynasty. The Uighurs' power reached its peak. In the same year, the Uighurs annexed the Gelu tribe of Wude Mountain, and the Gelu people in Jinshan and Beiting established Ye Hu and belonged to the Tang Dynasty.

Gelu's den is located on the shore of Xuanchi Lake in the lower reaches of the Doros River. Their territory is thousands of miles away, distributed on the vast land south of Jinshan. The easternmost part is the Desert Governor's Office, close to the Shatuo Governor's Office, which is also a large area of ​​grasslands and mountains. In November of the 29th year of Kaiyuan, a serious conflict broke out between Geluo and Shatuo people, and Shatuo Ye Hu Zhu Xie Fu Kingdom died in this conflict. The Shatuo people suffered heavy casualties and injured, and nearly a thousand women and children were plundered and became slaves.

Nine years have passed, and the people of Geluo have forgotten that bloody conflict. They have reproduced and lived a peaceful life on this grassland.

That night, dark clouds covered the bright moon. The Geluo tribe composed of nearly a thousand people was very lively. Sheep entered the circle, cattle and horses were eating grass leisurely in the livestock. The fire was bright in the tent, and men, women, young and old were cooking milk tea and roasting lamb by the stove. From time to time, groups of children ran around the tent, and laughter spread throughout the grassland.

Suddenly, a muffled thunder sounded on the ground, and the tea stove on the fire was trembling slightly. The Gelulu people looked at each other, not knowing what happened. Many people got out of the tent and visited the east. The muffled thunder sounded from the east, but the east was pitch black and I couldn't see the situation in the distance. As the muffled thunder sounded more and more, the Gelu people suddenly understood that it was the sound of the hoofs of thousands of war horses.

Three miles away, a black cavalry team swept over, and the three thousand Shatuo cavalry came fiercely. The people of Geluo called their sons and daughters and ran west desperately. Before they could escape, the Shatuo cavalry rushed into the tent area, with sword lights flashing, screams one after another, torches threw into the tent, and in an instant, the flames soared into the sky, and more than one hundred tents were flattened like a destruction. The Shatuo cavalry started killing, and men, women, young and old were not spared, and all were killed by one knife. The heads were rolling and blood stained the grassland. Except for more than a dozen people who were lucky enough to get on the horse and escaped, the rest of the Shatuo people were all killed.

Seven days later, the news that the Shatuo people attacked the Geluo tribe of Damo Prefecture at night spread throughout Beiting and also reached the Geluo Ya tent located on the shore of Xuanchi Lake. The Geluo chief of the Geluo people was furious.

Mulaheishan is over fifty years old this year, with a medium figure, but his shoulders are a bit deformed and wide, with a big nose, and he has always regarded the Uighur as the number one threat to Gelu since he became the chief of Gelu twenty years ago. Especially three years ago, after the Geluru tribe of Wudejiao Mountain was annexed by the Uighurs, Mulaheishan was worried all day long. He knew that the Uighurs would come sooner or later, and for this reason, he had been looking for a new habitat. His eyes were on Saiyechuan. When Tuqi Shiren was strong, he never dared to have such an idea, but Tuqi Shiren is now in decline, and Saiyechuan should change his master. He firmly believed that as long as Gelu got Saiyechuan, the water and soil there would definitely make Gelu prosperous.

For this reason, in recent years, Moulaheishan thought about it day and night. All his thoughts were either worried about the Uighurs or plotting on the sacred cavalry. He never took the Shatu people to heart. Their leaders were killed by themselves and they still dared not cross the border. However, the Shatu people who he never cared about were attacking his land at night and massacred an entire tribe.

Anger of being bitten by a wild dog filled his heart. At this moment, a rough voice came from outside the tent, "Father, give me three thousand cavalrymen, let me trample on the Shatu people."

A black shadow strode into the tent. This was a young man in his thirties. At first glance, he looked almost exactly the same as Molahei Mountain. He had a big face, chaotic hair, a huge rosacea, and wide shoulders. However, his figure was greater than Molahei Mountain. He was the eldest son of Molahei Mountain.

Massilo is lustful and has a particularly energetic spirit. He has twenty women who have to control five women every night before he can sleep. Secondly, he is jealous of money and especially likes gold. Most of the gold snatched by the Gelulu people from the Western Turks in the past decade fell into his hands. In order to get more gold, he married the daughter of a large Sogdian merchant as his wife. His father-in-law helped him take various gems and jades for food and exchanged them for pieces of yellow gold.

To assassinate Luoduo had another great wish, which was to marry a princess from the Tang Dynasty to the account. Unfortunately, his father did not agree with it, which made his wish delayed.

Molahei Mountain was on the fire. When he saw his son coming into the tent, he said viciously: "Okay! I will give you five thousand warriors of Geluo, and wash the Shatu people with blood."

"Father, don't be impulsive!" Another urgent voice appeared at the door of the tent. When Mushuluo heard this voice, his face immediately sank and he snorted disdainfully.

I saw an equally young man walking in, only twenty-seven or eight years old, unlike the Mola Heishan Mountain and Motaro Duo, who looked like a black wild boar. The young man was tall and slender, with long eyes, a high nose and a wide forehead. It was obvious that he had the blood of a Han people.

He was the second son of Mulaheishan. His mother was a Han native and was originally the daughter of a military household in Yizhou. In the ninth year of Kaiyuan, she was abducted by the Geluo people as a slave. Seeing that she was a bit beautiful, Mulaheishan took her as a slave concubine. Later, she gave birth to Mulaheihan. She missed her hometown and named her son Yan Sihan. When her son was eleven years old, she gave birth to another daughter, and soon she died of postpartum infection.

Yan Sihan and his sister were humble and had many eyes since childhood. Until they were eighteen years old, they used their flexible mind to hunt a big black bear weighing 300 kilograms alone, which caused a sensation between Geluo and Maurai Mountain and made Mulahei Mountain look at him with admiration. He repeatedly made suggestions and helped Geluo through several major hardships, especially when the Uighurs annexed the Geluo tribe of Wude Mountain the year before yesterday. The Geluo tribe of Jinshan was in danger. He decisively persuaded his father to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, which made the Uighurs afraid, and the Geluo tribe of Jinshan escaped.

But no matter how Yan Sihan acted, he could not change his humble identity. Especially in the eyes of his elder brother Moushiroduo, he looked down on this brother the most.

Yan Sihan's obstruction calmed down slightly, and he asked quickly: "Why can't we kill Shatuogou? Do we have to endure this tone?"

"It's okay for my father to take revenge, but before taking revenge, I should inform Beiting first. The child heard that Beiting had changed a new governor. If he went to attack Shatu people just after he took office, it would seem disrespectful to him. My father should be polite and then fight, complain to Beiting, and then send troops to teach Shatu people a lesson, so that Beiting has nothing to say."

"Hmph! You are quite sensitive to the news about the Han people." Moushuluoduo, who was standing beside him, said coldly.

Yan Sihan hurriedly stepped forward and bowed with a smile and said, "Brother, I have heard from several businessmen. How can I compare with my brother's knowledgeable knowledge?"

Yan Sihan's humble attitude made Mutaruduo feel a little better. He said, "You have only a little bit of a bad idea. If you go to Beiting to report it according to your wishes and then take action, we would have been scolded to death by the tribe members."

He turned to his father and said, "Father, it's better to do this. He reported and took action while doing nothing."

Moulaheishan nodded. He was about to agree, and at this moment, someone outside the tent loudly reported: "Chief, the special envoy of Beiting is here!"

Moulaheishan was stunned and he hurriedly said, "Come in quickly!"

After a moment, a young civil servant in Beiting strode in, bowed and gave a slight tribute, and said in a Turkic voice: "I am Pei Yu, the secretary of the tent of the Li Envoy of Beiting, and I am here to send the orders of Li Envoy!"

Moulaheishan hurriedly smiled and said, "Is the new deputy envoy of the Jiedushi Li?"

“That’s right!”

Mulaheishan shook his two sons, and the father and son bowed together and said, "I wish to listen to the orders of the envoy Li!"

Pei Yu took out a document and said loudly: "Spring is back to Beiting, it is the best time to hunt. This general specially summoned the powerful generals of the three armies, and the warriors of various tribes under the rule of Beiting, including Gaochang, Geluo, Shatu, Turk, Qianghu, Tuqishi, etc., gathered in Tingzhou for hunting. The limit was on the first day of April, and the troops gathered in Jinman County. Those who violated the order were late were punished by military rules."

Pei Yu smiled after reading the document, "My general said that it is best for all tribes to come forward with a prince, with a limit of fifty people, of which Geluo and Shatuo can reach one hundred."

Moulahei Mountain pondered for a while and suddenly asked, "Mr. Pei, where did the envoy Li serve?"

Pei Yu smiled slightly and said, "My envoy was in Anxi and was known as the first arrow in Anxi. Have you ever heard of it?"

"So it's Tianshan Blood Arrow!"

Mulahei Mountain was stunned. The new Beiting Jiedushi Li Jun turned out to be the Anxi Li Qing'an who made the thunder cavalry and frightened.

Pei Yu bowed and said, "I have passed the order. Chief, please prepare as soon as possible and don't miss the date."

After saying that, he said goodbye and left. As soon as Pei Yu left, Yan Sihan said, "Father, this is an excuse for Li Qing'an to hunt. He wants to mediate the conflict between the Geluo people and the Shatu people."

"I heard it too."

Moulaheishan nodded slowly and said, "Since he has intended to mediate, we might as well go and attack Shatu immediately, let's do this!"

He turned around and said to his two sons: "You two lead a hundred Geluo warriors to Jinman County to participate in spring hunting to see how he mediates the conflict between the Geluo people and the Shatu people."

The conflict between the Gelulu people and the Shatu people made Li Qing'an end his inspection of Yizhou in advance and hurried back to Tingzhou to mediate the conflict that would break out between the two Hus. It just so happened that Beiting had the custom of spring hunting. In March and April every year, masters of cavalry and shooting gathered in Tingzhou. This is actually a kind of friendship. For Li Qing'an, who just took office, this year's spring hunting is particularly important, which is an opportunity to establish his dominance in Beiting.

He has been in Beiting for almost a month. Although he had greeted Cheng Qianli several times, Zhao Tingyu, the governor of Xizhou, never had any news. He neither came to pay a visit nor met. It was obvious that he was waiting for him to inspect.

It is no wonder that Li Qing'an is not a governor or a magistrate of Beiting after all, he is both deputy. On another level, his governor of Tingzhou is on par with the governor of Xizhou. Therefore, Zhao Tingyu dared to give him a warning with King Qing's support. As the saying goes, "A strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake." The court has given him the highest power, but how to truly obtain these powers requires his means.

Li Qingan was not in a hurry. He handed over the preparation of spring hunting to Yang Fengche. He prepared the previous few spring hunting sessions, and he was good at this kind of thing. Li Qingan rectified the military affairs of the Hanhai Army in the Jiedu Office every day.

The Hanhai Army had 12,000 troops, and the military envoy was Lu Fengyuan, the former governor of Tingzhou. Lu Fengyuan had been transferred, so he was temporarily led by Deputy Envoy Wang Yichu. After Li Qing'an took office, he naturally took over as Military Envoy. The first thing he did was to reform the Hanhai Army. He used the excuse that the Hanhai Army was too large as a pretext to divide the Hanhai Army into three, called the Hanhai Army's first, second and third armies, and appointed Duan Xiushi and Li Feishouyu, Li Fei Yuanli as Military Envoy of the Three Armies. Wang Yichu was promoted to the Beiting Martial Sima, and Li Qing'an also guaranteed him the position of Chaosan Duan from the fifth rank, so he was transferred to civilian officer.

Wang Changling was the Beiting Director General and the Military Farming Envoy, Cen Shen was the judge, and Pei Yu was the secretary. In this way, before the spring hunting was held, Li Qing'an first captured the military and political power of Tingzhou.
Chapter completed!